title: High prevalence of interatrial septal aneurysm in young adults who were born preterm.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  The cardiovascular vulnerability of young adults who were born preterm was first acknowledged over a decade ago.
  
  
  OBJECTIVE
  (1) To examine the echocardiographic characteristics of a group of young adults born preterm with an extremely low birthweight (<1000 g; ex-ELBW) in comparison with healthy controls born at term (C); (2) to identify a correlation between the potential echocardiographic abnormalities detected in ex-ELBW and their anthropometric parameters, age, presence of respiratory distress, patency of ductus arteriosus, length of stay in Neonatal Intensive Care Unit.
  
  
  METHODS
  Thirty-seven ex-ELBW (11 males, 26 females; mean age: 22.2 ± 1.8 years) were compared with 37 C (11 males, 26 females). Both groups underwent standard mono- and bi-dimensional transthoracic echocardiogram with color Doppler.
  
  
  RESULTS
  No statistically significant differences were detected between the two groups regarding mono-dimensional echocardiography or Doppler measurements (p = ns). Conversely, a statistically significant difference was observed between the prevalence of interatrial septal aneurysm (ASA) in ex-ELBW compared to C (p = 0.0016). A significant association was likewise observed between ASA and the presence of both respiratory distress at birth (p < 0.05) and patency of the ductus arteriosus (p < 0.05).
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  A significant prevalence of ASA was detected in ex-ELBW subjects compared to C, underlining a probable correlation with respiratory distress and patent ductus arteriosus. In view of the association between ASA and stroke in young adults devoid of other cerebrovascular risk factors, this unexpected observation suggests that all ex-preterm subjects should undergo transthoracic or transesophageal echocardiographic examination with the aim of detecting this potentially emboligenic cardiac abnormality.
authors.affiliation: Department of Medical Sciences "M. Aresu" .
authors.forename: Pier Paolo
authors.initials: PP
authors.lastname: Bassareo
authors.forename: Vassilios
authors.initials: V
authors.lastname: Fanos
authors.forename: Melania
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Puddu
authors.forename: Christian
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Cadeddu
authors.forename: Fabio
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Cadeddu
authors.forename: Luca
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Saba
authors.forename: Lucia
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Cugusi
authors.forename: Giuseppe
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Mercuro
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D017668:Age of Onset; D054087:Atrial Septum / Q000473:pathology; D005260:Female; D006322:Heart Aneurysm / Q000453:epidemiology*; D006801:Humans; D052577:Infant, Extremely Low Birth Weight; D007231:Infant, Newborn; D007234:Infant, Premature; D008297:Male; D011247:Pregnancy; D047928:Premature Birth / Q000453:epidemiology*; D015995:Prevalence; D055815:Young Adult
keywords: Interatrial septal aneurysm; migraine; patent foramen ovale; prematurity; stroke